Woody Harrelson Wants to Clarify What Kind of ‘Mentor’ His Han Solo Movie Character Is

We don’t know a whole lot about the Han Solo movie aside from the fact that it’s about Han Solo and he’s a young lad in it, but we have had some descriptions of the other characters to fuel our speculation engines. Woody Harrelson, for example, is said to be playing a kind of “mentor” to young Solo, which those of us who’ve stayed up to date on the Expanded Universe through the years know to be Alezsandr Badure, Han Solo’s teacher at the Imperial Academy who taught him all his flying skills. But now Woody Harrelson is saying that his character, whose name is “Beckett,” isn’t exactly the Imperial officer type.

While speaking to Comicbook.com, Harrelson said that he didn’t know if “mentor” was the right word for who Beckett is to Solo.

I don’t know if mentor is really the right word, you know. I’m a criminal who he gets to know, and I guess, probably, I do have some influence on him. But I’m a criminal.

Well, hmm. This wouldn’t be the first time the Han Solo movie suffered from lack-of-a-better-word syndrome, as there was that confusion a few months ago when we all thought Han Solo wasn’t actually his real name. So maybe the description of Harrelson’s character is slightly off, which would make him quite a different fellow from who we all think he is. But then again, Beckett isn’t that far off from Badure, though Badure just sounds way more Star Wars-y. Is it a code name?

Then again, this could all be some elaborate scheme by Lucasfilm to pre-empt any kind of speculation that would give away the plot of the movie. Being a Disney company now, Lucasfilm is very, very good at keeping secrets. If they need to tell some lies here and there to keep their information secure, more power to them I say.